Wind Energy Pros and Cons

This article contains the most important facts about wind power that should be included on any balanced wind energy pros and cons list. Everything you are about to read is properly referenced at the bottom of this page.

See in-depth explanations further down. Let`s start with a quick overview:

Pros of Wind Energy

Wind energy is a green energy source and does not cause pollution.

The potential of wind power is enormous – 20 times more than what the entire human population needs.[1]

Wind power is renewable and there is no way we can run out of it (since wind energy originates from the sun).

Wind turbines are incredible space-efficient. The largest of them generate enough electricity to power 600 U.S. homes.[2]

Wind power only accounts for about 2.5% of total worldwide electricity production, but is growing at a promising rate of 25% per year (2010).[3]

Prices have decreased over 80% since 1980 and are expected to keep decreasing.[4]

Cons of Wind Energy

Wind is a fluctuating (intermittent) source of energy and is not suited to meet the base load energy demand unless some form of energy storage is utilized (e.g. batteries, pumped hydro).

The manufacturing and installation of wind turbines requires heavy upfront investments – both in commercial and residential applications.

Wind turbines can be a threat to wildlife (e.g. birds, bats).

Noise is regularly reported as a problem by neighboring homes.

How wind turbines look (aesthetics) is a legitimate concern for some people.

Advantages of Wind Energy

1. Green

Wind energy is a green energy source. Harnessing wind energy does not pollute the environment nearly as much as fossil fuels, coal and nuclear power do.

It is true that the manufacturing, transportation and installation of a wind turbine contributes to global warming slightly, but the electricity production itself does not involve any emissions of climate gases whatsoever.

There are some environmental issues associated with wind energy that we will discuss in the disadvantages section.

2. Enormous Potential

As mentioned in the introduction of this article, the potential of wind power is absolutely incredible. Several independent research teams have reached the same conclusions: The worldwide potential of wind power is more than 400 TW (terawatts).[1]

Harnessing wind energy can be done almost anywhere. Whether or not a resource is financially feasible is another question.

3. Renewable

Wind energy is a renewable source of energy. Wind is naturally occurring and there is no way we can empty the energy resources. Wind energy actually originates from the nuclear fusion processes that take place on the sun.

As long as the sun keeps shining (don`t worry, according to scientists it will for another 6-7 billion years)?, we will be able to harness wind energy on earth. This is not the case for fossil fuels (e.g. oil and natural gas), which our society relies heavily on today.

4. Space-Efficient

The largest wind turbines are capable of generating enough electricity to meet the energy demand of 600 average U.S. homes.[2] The wind turbines can`t be placed too close to each other, but the land in-between can be used for other things. This is why many farms would benefit more from installing wind turbines as opposed to solar panels.

5. Rapid Growth

Although wind power only accounts for about 2.5% of total worldwide electricity production, the capacity is growing at an incredible rate of 25% per year (2010).[3] This does not only contribute in the fight against global warming, but also helps lowering costs:

6. Prices are Decreasing

Prices have decreased over 80% since 1980.[4] Thanks to technological advancements and increased demand, prices are expected keep decreasing in the foreseeable future.

7. Low Operational Costs

It is generally true that operational costs tend to be low once the turbines first have been manufactured and erected. However, not every wind turbine is created equal – some are more susceptible to maintenance than others.

8. Good Domestic Potential

People can generate their own electricity with wind power in much the same manner as people do with the best solar panels (photovoltaics).

Net metering (currently implemented in more than 40 states across the U.S.[5]) allows homeowners to receive bill credits for their excess electricity productionThere is good money to save/earn with residential wind turbines, but maybe the best perks come from not being reliant the utility for electricity, which can protect you from blackouts as well as fluctuating energy prices.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy

1. Unpredictable

Wind is unpredictable and the availability of wind energy is not constant. Wind energy is therefore not well suited as a base load energy source. If we had cost-effective ways of storing wind energy the situation would be different.

We can hope for breakthroughs in energy storage technologies in the future, but right now, wind turbines have to be used in tandem with other energy sources to meet our energy demand with consistency.

2. Costs

The cost-competitiveness of wind power is highly debatable. Both utility-scale wind farms and small residential wind turbines typically rely heavily on financial incentives. This is to give wind power a fair chance in the fierce competition against already well-established energy sources such as fossil fuels and coal.

Solar power (PV) is generally regarded as the first choice for homeowners looking to become energy producers themselves, but wind turbines make an excellent alternative in some situations. It would take a wind turbine of about 10 kilowatts and $40,000 to $70,000 to become a net electricity producer. Investments like this typically break even after 10 to 20 years.

5. Threat to Wildlife

Birds, bats and other flying creatures have slim chances of surviving when taking a direct hit from a rotating wind turbine blade. However, some environmentalists have blown this issue out of proportions.

Studies have estimated the number of annual avian fatalities by U.S. wind turbines from 10,000 all the way to 440,000. As a comparison, collisions with buildings may kill up to 976 million birds.[6]

3. Noise

Noise is a problem for some people that live in the proximity of wind turbines. Building wind turbines in urban environments should be avoided. Noise is not a problem with offshore wind turbines at all. New designs show significant improvements compared to older models and generate less noise.

4. Looks

While most people actually like how wind turbines look, there is always some who don`t. Wind turbines leave a smaller footprint on land compared to the majority of other energy sources (including solar, nuclear and coal). The problem is mitigated if the wind turbines are built outside urban areas.

Error, group does not exist! Check your syntax! (ID: 2)

What exactly is wind energy? Wind energy actually comes from the sun. Solar radiation unevenly heats the surface of earth, which causes hot air to rise and cool air to fill the void. This movement is the definition of wind energy. Wind is a kinetic form of energy (motion).

There are several techniques we can use to harness this energy. Wind power is a term used to encapsulate all processes that convert wind energy into useful work. This article has mainly been about the advantages and disadvantages of generating electricity with wind turbines (one aspect of wind power).

How can we generate electricity with wind energy? Wind turbines are complicated, but here’s the basic gist: Kinetic energy in the wind is converted into mechanical energy (the rotation of turbine blades), which again is converted into electricity by a generator sitting inside the hub of the structure.

The bottom line: The future of wind power looks promising. The development of several massive wind farms (both on- and offshore) is taking place as you read this. It will be interesting to see how far we’ve come ten years from now. The United States aims to produce at least 20 percent of its electricity by wind power by 2030.[1]

we you forgot to add water energy which is also very effecient, here in Norway we have alot of waterfalls and rivers that generates so much energy that we sell it to other countries, though it cannot be used everywhere it is one of the best green energy there is… most of it is built underground, it is very renewable and is quiet (not inside but the building is underground, and even inside it doesnt make alot of noise either.)

I don’t understand how an energy can be of any value if it is not reliable. In times when the turbine is not spinning, another power source on the grid needs to be there to supply the power—IOWs if another power source is needed to be there when Wind is not supplying power, then why do we need wind at all? If we need to rely on a supplemental power source to wind, say a Coal Plant, then the Coal Plant needs to be running at this high level at all times to be available when we need it. Wind turbines simply create ‘double’ the costs to supply the same amount of power as without.

Of course these turbines and solar panels are built using fossil fuels so they are just another ‘pie in the sky renewable resource.” The building of these turbines has nothing to do with renewable energy! This is just another money making, tax payer handout, ploy to take all of our money and keep us distracted from the fact that industrial civilization is coming to an end while the grotesquely wealthy continue to hide in their multi million dollar homes.

Yes, no doubt a lot of what you stated is true. In fact, this has been the very principle under which this society has been developed for a few thousands of years already… and will continue to do so. But sometimes, by sheer chance, these vested interests do match, at least partially, the real human concerns for the benefit of all. It is undeniable that installing self generating energy systems that use renewable energy like wind, water, sun, will definitely lower the consumption of fossil non- renewable energy resources. Long since other fuel operating combustion engines have been invented. But as long as the oil industry continue to be in the hands of the big environmental killers, with the “discrete” complaisance of the national governments who many of them are representatives who hold interests in the oil business -wonder how then they can by MP’s or high ranking government representatives after having declared their obvious conflict of interests?- Mmm… but this is democracy… if you see what I mean.

But when they actually generate power, using renewable and green energy sources is certainly better than using the non-renewables? Since the renewables still are only a tiny part of the entire power generation (less than 2% in the United States), the fluctuating is not a huge problem.

Hydroelectricity (also a renewable) and natural gas are good options to generate power to meet peak demand. This is because the output of these energy sources can be adjusted in a relatively short period of time.

However, the renewable energy sources will steadily replace the non-renewables – fluctuating will eventually be a larger problem. This is where energy storage comes in.

It was stated in the article that research is being done to figure out how to store the energy that is generated and not used. This way, when the wind is not so active, there will be no need for an alternate source such as fossil fuels and coal.

we cant always rely on those fossil fuels it might be expensive but we are however finding new ways to power our earth with out these new ways we would be in total rewin thats why we are tryingg we need to learn to use less fossil fuels dont put down the wind resourse because it is helping us out fossil fuels arent they may provide us with energy but look what its doing to our planet they pollute and global warming

It allows for the option of using the cheapest and greenest power when its available. Your argument is much like riding a bicycle up a hill, then as you start down the other side you decide your going to hit the brakes so you can slow down enough to use your pedals; because “why should I use gravity when I already have pedals.” Our planet is in trouble whether you believe in global warming or not, and we need to do anything we can to at least not make it worse. And until they come up with a tanning lotion with a SPF 3,000, I say lets give wind, natural gas, geothermal, hydroelectric and solar a try.

I live in Narragansett RI, next to this monolith that I’m told generate electricty for the campers. Well the campers are long gone but I have to listen to the thing hum and whoosh all day and all nite. Worst than that is during the day it strobs out the neighborhood. The flicker is very disturbing and at time I have to sit down to regain my balance. I would be the first to endorse green energy, but not next to a residentual area. It also towers over a play ground.
Beware there may be one comming to your neighborhood…

you are probably experiencing psychosomatic illness. Look it up if you do not know what it is. The infrasound produced by the wind turbines is very common in our daily lives, in natural and man made environments. Humans cannot hear infrasound, and the sound produced is under the threshold amount, that means we would not pick it up. Your ‘illness’ is proabably self induced.

If the United States obtains 20 percent of its electricity from wind power by 2020, it will reduce global warming emissions equivalent to taking 71 million cars off the road or planting 104 million acres of trees.

Wind energy would be a great start for finding a solution to the high demand for electricity. We also have more than enough natural gas (Not the same as gasoline and coal) here in Oklahoma you can change to liquid form if you get down to a certain degree and you could also make a engine that could use natural gas. and i dont think the wind turbines would be a problem the blades move slow enough that the wouldnt get hit because of the emense size of them.
at least most people understand that we as humans need to change our old ways

I’m not sure why nobody has pointed this out, but if the power from the turbine is immediately put into a battery than you would have an unlimited amount of power if the energy is let out evenly into the grid without a problem. Also the noise pollution could be easily stopped with implement of many smaller wind turbines.

Hello, my name is Tara. I’m a senior at North Rockland High School and I am doing a research paper on wind energy. I found your articles about wind energy to be very useful in my research and was wondering if I could ask you a few questions for a sort of “e-mail interview”.

You mentioned a significant amount of advantages and disadvantages to using wind energy. Are you for it or against it?

Are there any other alternative energy sources that you would say are better than using wind?

Do you believe that wind will become a more popular energy source in the near future?

If you could answer these questions to the best of your ability I would truly appreciate it. Thank You
Tara

I think solar is another big one. In my opinion, which one is better all comes down to costs – and this varies from where in the world you are located.

Wind and solar are currently the fastest growing renewable energy sources. There’s no doubt that wind will play a part in our future, but to which extent can only be speculated in. Offshore wind farms holds a lot of promise and solves some of the issues with conventional wind power. Essentially politics is what drives the growth of these renewable energy sources. Most of them are highly dependent on governement/state finances to become cost-competetive on par with fossil fuels, coal, nuclear and so on.

I am a student at the Environmental and Adventure School in Kirkland, WA. I am currently working on a culminating project related to an environmental issue. We gather information on our issue, take notes, write a persuasive issue, give a 20-30 minute oral presentation and take a side. If it isn’t too much trouble may I ask you a couple of questions? This will greatly aid my research. I want to thank you for considering my request.

1) To what extent should the US government subsidize wind farms?
2) Are wind farms noisy?
3) Can wind farms provide enough power for a large city?

1) Incentives should be in place to make renewable energy cost-competitive to conventional coal and fossil fuels. This will kick-start the development, which will lead to lower prices of green sources of energy in the future.

2) Wind farms are noisy. That’s why they usually are built outside populated areas. On the other hand, the noise they produce is less disturbing than traffic, flights and many other things. Noise is not an issue with offshore wind farms.

3) It depends on how big the wind farm is. The World’s largest wind farm, Roscoe Wind Farm, is located in U.S and has a total installed capacity of 781.5 MW. This is estimated to power about 250 000 average American households.

There are many upcoming wind farm projects that will crush the previous record. Gansu Wind Farm, which is currently under construction, is expected to have 20 000 MW installed by the end

Thank you for your website, it was so very useful in a research project I had to do for my school. I found everything I needed in this website. Wind energy is so cool, and it was interesting to read about, especially on your website. I’m definably going to come to this website more often. Thanks again!!

Hi, Im doin my research in south africa and wanted to ask just one question , if wind is not available does it mean there wont be any electricity or is the energy stored in a battery like solar energy?

The energy from wind turbines can be stored in a battery like solar (common for small residential wind turbines). It can also be stored as pumped-hydro or other forms of energy storage. Large wind farms usually send the electricity directly onto the grid where it is used in real time.

1) I haven’t been doing any research or done any tests on wind power. I study renewable energy and have collected information from credible sources to make this article. I’m working on referencing all my articles.

2) and 3) I think a combination of many of them – and I’m sure they will power all our energy needs one day.

4) This is what I chose to study, so I figured making this website would help me learn more. I’ve done a lot in terms of improving energy efficiency/conservation at home.

1) “Ice can end up at places other than exactly at the base of the turbine, but it’s a myth that a turbine will (and can) operate at high speed with ice on it and fling ice for miles,” said Ron Stimmel of the American Wind Energy Association

On the other side you have people who claim that ice is a bigger issue. In my opinion, ice-throwing should be taken into account in the planning stages of a wind farm.

I would assume that the company behind wind farm would be held responsible in case of accidents.

2) According to Dr Nina Pierpont, a leading New York paediatrician, noise from wind turbines can cause heart disease, tinnitus, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines and sleep deprivation. The closer to the wind turbines, the loader, and the worse the effects are.

This is an extremist point of view. I don’t think wind turbines are nearly as a problem for people’s health as some claim they are.

First off, when there is a chance of ice, personnel from the site go inspect, if there is noticeable ice build-up, then any turbines close enough to homes or major roads are curtailed.

Haha, an for the “noise”….it is not that bad at all…usually the people that complain the most about it are landowners who turned down the companies wanting to use their land, then once they saw all the $$ their neighbors were making off of them, they would try to get the owner of the wind farm to put more (although it’s way too late by this time) furious they don’t get jack while their neighbors bank, they are sour, plain and simple…

I have worked on wind turbines for 8 years, starting at Trent Mesa in Texas, my father was in wind before me and is currently a site manager at the Roscoe Windfarm mentioned in this article…(European company E-on is the owner of that site) I am also a college grad (attended college while working on turbines) I got in wind at age 18….all I will say is that there are MANY things brought against wind farms that are completely skewered.

Your article was way bias. When you put together a pro’s and con’s you need to keep your unsubstantiated personal feelings out of it. The environmental pollution from these wind turbines is huge. Include the ascetics, amount of material used, maintenance, etc it’s one of the worst choices. Your comment “I personally like the way wind turbines blend in with the environment.” What??? Where are you from? These are a huge eyesore. I guarantee that 200 years from now we will be looking back on this energy source and saying….. what were they thinking?

You are equally as biased in your absolute slander of wind turbines. Pollution is not the issue here. The issue is the danger to wildlife. Pollution from wind turbines is the least in all of our energy sources. It is no better or worse than our other energy sources because it has little pollution, but it produces very little energy and is a danger to our wildlife.

You are equally biased in this comment. There is little to no pollution from wind turbines. In fact, they produce the least pollution. The problems are threats to wild life, and there is very little energy production.

Hydo unlike other green energy does make a profit. Hydo is there when you need it, that makes for a good idea. I have a hard time understanding some who suggest why does green energy need to make a profit??? If it does not earn money someone has to pay until they no longer can. A good idea does not need to be subsidized. Solar and wind was a good idea until it proved not to be worth the investment, investments need to provide a return on the money invested.

A good, balanced, article. I would have said that wind power is variable rather than unpredictable; meteorologists can predict wind with a fairly high level of accuracy, and therefore it is possible to predict how much energy will be generated by a wind farm with similar accuracy.

I suppose the obvious question regarding wind power in Illinois: abundant wind and scant opportunity to store energy via hydroelectric means, is how to prepare for times of wind speeds less than 8 mph. In Wales, the solution presented itself in the form of pumping water during times of wind power surplus into tunnels dug deep into a mountain. when the wind calms, the energy stored thus drives water turbines producing electricity: a bit like making ice at night and then cooling multiple buildings with it during the daytime as in downtown Chicago.

We have the deep tunnel system in the Chicago area. Making this system two-tier and storing runoff water in the deeper section during floods, pumping it to the shallower section during times of wind energy surplus, and finally releasing it to drive water turbines during calm conditions could effectively store wind energy in the form of hydroelectric potential energy to be released as needed. Keeping the lower tier as empty as possible against the event of floods or calm conditions may decrease the efficency somewhat.
Action to level the energy supply and demand via such projects is much more productive use of brain power than bickering over tax credits.

Mr Pantzlaff, I agree that this article has some biased comments, but would like to know why you think it is misleading and is a disgrace? How can you be so sure that your children will live in a world where wind turbines are not accepted? Have you researched our non renewable energy sources and how scarce some of them are becoming?

where is the information that there is enough wind energy to “supply the entire humanity’s energy need 200 times over” sourced from. i am using this information for a project and wanted to ensure this statement was legitimate. thank you.

Is off-shore wind farms the best solution? It seems to me that our Nation could have a better balance of energy production with; wind, hydro & solar all operating in necessary sequence along the shore lines or close to the great lakes. With all the tax credits available, it seems there is a mad rush to build wind farms in areas that are sufficient (central Indiana, for example), but not necessarily the greatest area for the project. The wind farms will produce “real time” energy with little capacity for storage. There is no storage solution at this time; it is a future goal. Wouldn’t it be best to search for the areas in which one could provide balance to energy production and have a bit more control. It seems the cart may be before the horse.

Hi Mathius,
I liked your website a lot. Really appreciate your work on that. I m doing my batchelor’s in environmental engg, in India. Being interested in energy technology, I would like to ask some experienced person like u on wind energy..
1.) There are huge offshore wind energy projects upcoming in Europe. Can these completely replace fossil fuels in future if costs go down..?
2.) How can we distribute electricity to some very interior nations like Mongolia which has no ocean access..? Or where wing speeds are not very significant..? Are there any international policies for that..?
3) Wave energy, as I found in many articles is much more reliable and predictable compared to wind and solar, if costs go down (ofcourse it will take time), would’s it be a better alternative. ..?
Thanx.

The energy storage problem has been solved. If you Google on Highview Power Storage, you’ll find out all about cyrogenic storage. It has already been working successfully with a small plant and all that remains to be done is to scale up and so realise efficiencies by doing that. It will be a lot cheaper than pumped hydro, lithium battery and compressed air storage.

must be why countries such as britain, who have spent billions of dollars on wind turbines are now abandoning the projects. People need to take a look at the research done on these countries that show it has led to no reductions in greenhouse gases or fossil fuel use.

One para from it: The US experience with wind farms has left over 14,000 wind turbines abandoned and slowly decaying, in most instances the turbines are just left as symbols of a dying Climate Religion, nowhere have the Green Environmentalists appeared to clear up their mess or even complain about the abandoned wind farms.

The ideas of renewable energy sources should be explored as soon as possible and all resource should have become expendable immediately after we realized we were destroying our own planet. We should not focus on one specific source of power, but as many as possible, as to maximize the energy we have. if we can create extra, we should.

They have failed to mention the fact that wind turbines built too close to buildings and roads cause extra snow accumulating around the buildings and also on the roads with snow blusters-blinding traffic and causing accidents-They should be at least 2 KM back from buildings and roads.

The 2nd point of the pro section is completely misleading. Your point is justified by an estimated total output of 400TWh, stating that this is 20 times the earth needs, but the UK’s consumption alone exceeds this figure by some way. In order for the UK to meet the 2020 EU environmental agreement, it will need to produce a minimum of 15% of energy via renewable sources, which equate to 216TWh, over half your estimated total output for the world!

I suggest that you look into your facts a bit more before posting ambiguous statements.

Dear Bob, your lack of concern on the problem of new renewable energy is astounding. I’m personally surprised you have the brain power to type out #NOLIFE while you sit at your computer. I hope you decide to get up and do something productive, I’m sure you have /some/ potential.
Sincerely,
none of your business.

The author of this article seems to downplay aesthetic concerns.. I live within 10 miles of a large and rapidly expanding wind farm(s) in Paulding and Van Wert counties in N.W. Ohio
First of all, this is no Old MacDonald wind farm with a few quaint whirlygigs around the yard or pasture! These structures are as tall as medium size skyscrapers in many of the cities in the midwest! Granted, they use minimal acreage, but never has such gargantuan structures been erected in rural America. Picture a sunset with striking cloud formations.. NOW PICTURE THE SAME IMAGE OBSTRUCTED BY WIND TURBINES FOR 360 DEGREES AROUND YOUR FIELD OF VISION! Not a pretty site!!!!!!!!!!!! Assuming the wind power would be equal to NW Ohio, would farms ever be erected near yellowstone park , the Grand Canyon or how about obstructing the view of Mount Rushmore? We know the answer ……… No way.. but people in the sticks so to speak don’t matter.. THIS IS WRONG!

Regarding the look of turbines “the problem can be mitigated if you build outside urban areas”. This shows a shocking lack of understanding of how turbines can effect harmfully certain rural landscapes. In fact, one might say that by nature they are more suited to already industrialized ‘edge of city’ landscapes. Well intentioned promoters of the technology really need to stop digging their head in the sand when it comes to this issue, and more research needs to be done into how to successfully site the machines in places where they will cause less harm to landscape.

6/17/2014
It’s all good with Carbon free Energy with Wind Farms.
However it is indeed very expensive as well as very high in maintenance.
How about the same Wind Turbines can be used on the ground without any blades!?
And how about if you do not have to worry about wind at all?
Unbelievable! But very possible!
You wan to know HOW????
It’s micro turbines with Anhydrous Ammonia.
You may want to discuss further?
Contact ME
DR. K. KHATRI
18686652270
kanti12 us@yahoo.com

The only green i care about is the one in my pocket wind power is too expensive to build maintain and process to the actual consumer me. Therefore rates will sky rocket id rather own my own windmill and coat my roof with solar panels and have the utility company pay me for producing energy in other words wind power farms are a gigantic waste of money eyesore which im sure will be destroyed in a storm or rotted away quickly by saltwater

I love the idea of renewable energy but I d.o have thoughts and concerns about just how green they may be. Solar, wind, and tide are parts of nature that the earth ecosystem is balanced. By removing the energy from these components for use by man are we causing any kind of environmental change that alters how the system works in ways like climate change etc?

When I was a kid, we’d always drive to grandma’s house for the summer. We would pass a large wind turbine farm. They had the three blade fans that look like a jet engine. Additionally, they had the oval, cookie cutter shaped ones that would twist in the wind. They were always spinning quite vigorously. I am sure a lot of power gets generated by those ones I am familiar with.

Hi Mathias,
I am writing a research paper on wind turbines, and wind power, and need to credibly cite my sources. What is your position through this company/website, and where is it based out of?
Thank you

Brilliant post- I think here in the UK in particular, more people are recognising the positive impact of going green and just how environmentally safe, wind energy is but i think the worry of costs and having to change energy providers puts a lot of home owners off!

Hey there! This post could not be written any better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my
old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward
this post to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read.
Thanks for sharing!

If we could use fossil fuels and never run out then there would be no need for wind energy, but this is not the case. I agree, continue to use the coal plants, continue to use other forms of energy, but do so with an understanding that an alternate more effecient and cost-effective method needs to be introduced, this is wind energy. Simply put, wind farms of today are the rail roads of tomorrow. We cannot and will not continue to sustain ourselves with the energy we need tomorrow using yesterdays mindset.

I am currently conducting my own research about wind energy for a research paper assignment. I have found that while many people may think that wind energy is not an efficient substitute to fossil fuels, wind energy is a smart alternative and should grow as an industry because it is a green, renewable form of energy, has environmental advantages, and has economic advantages. Because wind is a natural occurrence every day, wind is a free fuel. There is no need to producing anything other than the wind turbines that collect the power from the wind. There is no pollution, no use of fossil fuels, and wind is a renewable, green energy. Wind energy is also environmentally friendly because wind farms can be placed in vacant and multi-use areas such as plains, farms, and ranches. There is no processes of excavation and wind farms leave very little damage to the earth. Lastly, wind energy is one of the most cost efficient forms of energy. Even though it may be highly expensive to build wind farms, once farms are put in place, it costs a substantial amount less to produce each kilowatt of energy. There are also much less subsides, prices are fairly stable, and wind energy creates energy independence. All of these facts that I have found in my research show that wind energy is superior in many ways to other forms of energy and therefore should become a larger part of the energy industry.